Speaker 1: Calarogu Shark Media.
Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to Echoes of the Void, Episode two, Resonance,
Part two.
Speaker 1: As the solstice approached, I continued my sessions with the Resonator,
making contact with Alexander whenever possible. Each time, his form
was a little clearer, our connection a little stronger, though
he also appeared more drained, the entity's predation taking its toll.
Two days before the solstice, we had our most substantial
contact yet. Alexander's form appeared almost solid, though still transparent,
like thick glass cast in human shape. The entity knows,
he said, without preamble, It's preparing to interfere when we
attempt to the harmonization. How what can it do? From
within the binding distort our resonance, create discordance instead of harmony.
His expression was grim, And it has help help from who?
Something new has entered the void. Another consciousness recently passed over,
someone who knows of you, of Blackwood Estate. A chill
ran through me, someone connected to the break in to
the woman who warned me not sure, can sense only malevolence,
desire to stop what we attempt. This was a complication
we hadn't anticipated. What do we do Alexander's form moved closer,
his eyes intense. We need to practice the harmonization, create
a preliminary resonance before the soul's strengthen our connection against interference.
How the text says, the harmonization requires all three anchors,
not full harmonization, just attunement, like musicians before concert, finding
perfect pitch together. I nodded, understanding when now, while connections strong,
He gestured to the resonator, adjust to highest frequency. Then
focus completely on me, on us, on what we share
across void. I did as he instructed, turning the resonator's
dial to its maximum setting. The pendulum swung faster, the
device emitting a barely audible hum that seemed to vibrate
in my bones. Now, Alexander said, his form, drawing as
close to me as possible without touching. Close your eyes,
feel the resonance between us, the recognition that transcends physical reality.
I closed my eyes, focusing on that sense of connection,
of recognition that had drawn us together across a century
of separation, the feeling that something in me had always
known something in him had been waiting to find it again.
The air around me seemed to thicken, to charge with electricity.
The key against my skin grew almost hot enough to burn.
I gasped as sensation flooded through me, not physical exactly,
but not merely emotional either, something in between, as if
my consciousness itself was being touched, caressed, embraced. Yes, Alexander's
voice inside my mind now rather than heard with my ears.
That's it. Feel how our frequencies align, how they amplify
each other. The sensation intensified, pleasure, spiraling through me in
waves that had nothing to do with physical contact and
everything to do with the perfect alignment of our consciousness.
It was intimacy beyond anything possible in the physical world,
a direct communion of essence with essence. I felt Alexander's response,
his pleasure matching mine, amplifying it, reflecting it back to
me in an escalating cycle of resonance. We were creating
something between us, a harmonic that existed in neither world,
but in the space where they overlapped and then abruptly discordance,
a jarring wrongness that tore through our connection, like static
through a radio signal. Pain replaced pleasure, dissonance replaced harmony.
I cried out, my eyes flying open, Alexander's form was
being pulled away from me, distorted, stretched like an image
reflected in flowing water. Entity. He gasped, fighting us, creating interference. No.
I reached for him, though I knew I couldn't touch him,
Stay with me, can't hold connection, but we succeeded, created
beginning of third anchor. Can feel it between us? He
was right, despite the disruption, something had formed in the
space between us, a small point of light hovering in
the air, pulsing with the same rhythm as the key
around my neck. Protect it, Alexander managed as his form
continued to dissolve until solstice. Don't let entity corrupt it,
and then he was gone, the light winking out with him,
leaving me alone in the bedroom, gasping and disoriented from
the sudden severing of our connection. I fumbled for my phone,
calling Margaret with shaking hands. When she answered, I could
barely form coherent sentences, but she seemed to understand the
urgency in my voice. I'm coming, she said, Stay exactly
where you are, don't attempt another connection until I get there.
She arrived thirty minutes later, finding me still in the bedroom,
the resonator silent on the night stand, the ancient text
and ceremonial knife laid out on the bed. I explained
what had happened, the attempted harmonization, the momentary success, the
entity's violent interruption. Margaret listened intently, her expression growing more
concerned with each detail. You've felt it, she asked, When
I described the point of light, this beginning of the
third anchor, Yes, it was like like a seed of something,
a potential waiting to be fully realized. She nodded slowly.
The text mentions this the nucleus of harmonic resonance, a
quantum entanglement between consciousnesses. She sat beside me on the bed.
But Elise, for the entity to disrupt you so violently,
it's stronger than we thought. And if Alexander is right
about another consciousness helping it, someone who recently died, I said,
remembering his words, someone connected to Blackwood Estate. Margaret's eyes
widened slightly. The intruder, she said, quietly, the one who
tried to attack you, who left the knife. Alexander fought
him off and there was blood. You think he died,
and now he's in the void helping the entity. It's
possible if he was working with someone who wanted to
access the entity's power, who knew of its existence here,
his death would send his consciousness directly to the same
part of the void where Alexander and the entity are bound.
This added a new layer of urgency to our task.
Not only was the entity feeding on Alexander's energy growing stronger,
but it now had an ally, someone motivated by human
greed or ambition, someone who might understand our world better
than the ancient fragment. Ever. Could we need to complete
the harmonization at the solstice, i said firmly, before the
entity can absorb more of Alexander, before this new ally
can help it interfere further, Margaret squeezed my hand. Than
we prepare every protection, every strengthening ritual my family has
collected over three generations. We make sure that when you
reach for Alexander at the solstice, nothing can disrupt that connection.
The next day and a half passed in a blur
of preparation. Margaret's colleagues provided additional insights from the text,
helping us understand exactly how the triangulation should work. The
physicist was particularly helpful translating the esoteric descriptions into principles
of quantum entanglement and resonant frequencies that made sense to
my modern mind. It's quite brilliant, actually, he said, examining
the triangulation diagram. If I'm interpreting this correctly, you're creating
a stable wormhole between dimensional planes using synchronized quantum states
as anchor points. I didn't attempt another direct contact with
Alexander before the solstice, focusing instead on protecting and nurturing
the seed of resonance we'd created. I could feel it
even without the resonator, a warm spot in my consciousness,
a point of connection that remained despite the entity's attempt
to sever it. The key around my neck seems to
respond to this seed, growing warmer when I focused on it,
the two aspects of our connection recognizing each other across
the dimensional barrier. The day of the solstice dawned clear
and cold, the winter sun week in a pale blue sky.
Margaret arrived early, bringing the final components for the ritual
rare herbs, crystals of unusual composition, a liquid that shimmered
with its own inner light. My grandmother's final preparation, she explained,
holding up the vial of liquid. She created it specifically
for crossing liminal boundaries three drops under your tongue at
the moment of attempt. We chose the hidden room where
I had first found Alexander's portrait, as the location for
the ritual. It had the strongest natural resonance with the void,
Margaret explained, having been sealed away for decades, existing in
a state of suspension between past and present. As dusk fell,
we began the preparations. Margaret arranged the three anchors in
a triangular pattern, the ancient text, the ceremonial knife, and
the center point where the seed of harmonization would fully manifest.
Around this triangle, she placed the crystals at precise intervals,
creating a larger geometric pattern that, according to the physicist's interpretation,
would stabilize the quantum field we were attempting to generate.
I wore the key outside my clothing now where it
caught the light from the candles Margaret had placed around
the room. She had drawn symbols on my forehead, my palms,
and over my heart with a mixture of ash and
essential oils, explaining that they would help focus my consciousness
toward the void. Remember, she said, as the hour approached, midnight.
Once the connection forms, you must maintain absolute focus on Alexander,
on your shared resonance. Any distraction, any doubt, and the
entity can create discordance. I nodded, my heart racing with
anticipation and fear. And if it works, if we create
the full third anchor, then triangulation becomes possible, a stable
bridge between worlds. She squeezed my shoulder, but elise even then,
bringing Alexander back fully. It would require an exchange. Physical
reality demands balance, I know, I said quietly. He told
me a consciousness for a consciousness. Margaret's eyes were grave.
Are you prepared for what that might mean? I met
her gaze steadily. I've considered every possibility, including that I
might have to take his place. She started to protest,
but I raised a hand to stop her. That's not
the goal. We're looking for another way, using the entity
itself as the exchange medium. But if it comes to it, yes,
I'm prepared for that sacrifice. Margaret studied me for a
long moment, then nodded once, respect evident in her expression.
Your dedication to him is remarkable. It's not just dedication,
I said, it's recognition of something essential, something true, beyond
circumstance or time. I touched the key at my throat,
I would do the same for him in any life,
any world. At five minutes to midnight, I took my
position at the center of the triangular arrangement, handed me
the vial of shimmering liquid three drops no more at
exactly midnight, She reminded me, Then activate the resonator and
focus entirely on the seed of harmonization you've already created
with Alexander. She stepped back to the edge of the room,
outside the circle of crystals. Her role now was observer
and emergency intervena. She would monitor the process from outside,
ready to break the connection if something went dangerously wrong.
As the minutes ticked down, I felt the atmosphere in
the room changing. The air grew heavier, charged with potential.
The key against my skin pulsed with warmth, its rhythm accelerating.
As midnight approached, the small mantle clock Margaret had brought
struck the first chime of twelve. I placed three drops
of the shimmering liquid under my tongue, tasting something ancient
and other worldly, like starlight and ocean depths. Just as
Margaret had described her grandmother's earlier preparation. I activated the resonator,
its pendulum swinging into immediate rapid motion. The seed of
harmonization that Alexander and I had created flared to life
in my consciousness, a point of warmth and light that
expanded with each breath I took. As the final chime
of midnight faded, I closed my eyes and reached for
Alexander across the void, focusing every fiber of my being
on our connection, on the perfect resonance we had briefly
achieved before the world fell away. Physical reality receded like
an outgoing tide, leaving me suspended in a space that
was neither here nor there, but somehow both. The seed
of harmonization pulsed before me, a star in miniature, growing
brighter with my focused attention, Elise Alexander's voice all around me.
You came always, I answered, though I wasn't speaking with
a physical voice. Where are you? I can hear you,
but not see you here just beyond the entity blocks
direct visualization. But feel me, feel our connection. I concentrated harder,
reaching with my consciousness rather than my senses. Gradually I
became aware of him, not as an image, but as
a presence, a pattern of energy that I recognized as
intimately as my own reflection. Yes, he said, his relief palpable.
You feel me now. Good. Focus on that recognition, strengthen it.
I poured my attention into that awareness, that sense of
Alexander's unique energy signature. As I did, the seed of
harmonization between us pulsed brighter, expanding from a point of
life to a small sphere of radiance. The third anchor begins.
Alexander said, our creation from both sides of void. How
do we complete it? I asked, maintaining my focus despite
the growing strain existing in this liminal state was taxing
my consciousness, struggling to operate without physical reference points through
perfect resonance like before, but deeper, complete alignment of our
essential frequencies. I understood intuitively what he meant. Our previous
attempt had been a tentative harmony, a brief alignment. This
needed to be a complete synchronization, e merging of our
consciousness at the most fundamental level. I reached for him
with everything I was, everything I had ever been or
would be. I opened myself completely, allowing my essence to
vibrate in response to his holding nothing back. What followed
defies description in human language. It was union beyond physical conception,
beyond even the intense connections we had shared in dreams.
It was knowing and being known, absolutely without barrier or disguise.
Every memory, every thought, every emotion I had ever experienced
flowed from me to him, and his flowed into me,
not just from his human life, but from his century
of existence in the void. I experienced his childhood in
the Grand House by the Sea, his education in Europe,
the horror of the trenches in the Great War, his
return to Blackwood Estate, his discovery of the text in France,
his gradual seduction by the entity's promises of knowledge and power.
I felt his realization of the danger, his desperate attempt
to bind the entity, the shock of betrayal as Sullivan
possessed took the ceremonial knife and plunged it into his heart,
the confusion of death, of transition to a new state
of being, the century of solitude, of watching the world
continue without him. And then the moment he first sensed
me approaching Blackwood Estate, the spark of recognition of hope
after endless waiting. In return, he experienced my life, my childhood,
my work as an art restorer, my relationships that never
quite felt complete, the inexplicable longing for something I couldn't name,
the shock of inheriting the estate, the immediate overwhelming connection
to him. From our first dream encounter, we existed in
perfect resonance, two consciousnesses vibrating at exactly the same frequency
across the barrier between worlds. The sphere of light between
us grew brighter, more substantial, taking on a crystalline quality.
And then interference, a discordant note in our perfect harmony,
something dark and writhing, pushing against the edges of our
connection entity. Alexander warned, fighting the harmonization, stay focused on me,
only me. I tried, but the interference grew stronger, more insistent.
The darkness pressed against our joined consciousness, seeking entry, seeking
to corrupt our resonance. Elise Morgan, a new voice, neither
mine nor Alexander's, ancient and multiple, as if many voices
spoke as one. You cannot have him back. He is
mine now, my sustenance, my gateway. No, I responded, struggling
to maintain my focus on Alexander. He belongs to himself,
to this world to me, foolish human. He has never
belonged to you. Your connection is my creation, a lure,
a trap I set a century ago, waiting for the
right vessel to appear, lies, I said, though doubt flickered.
Was it possible? Was our connection not real but manufactured
by the entity? Ask him, the entity suggested, its voice, insidious,
weaving between my thoughts. Ask him what he truly sought
when he found me? Not knowledge, not understanding, power, immortality,
dominion over life and death. Don't listen, Alexander urged. It twists, truth,
creates doubt. That's how it feeds, how it manipulates. But
the seed had been planted. I could feel our resonance
wavering as my concentration faltered. Show her came another voice, newer, harsher,
huge woman, Show her what her precious Alexander really wanted.
And suddenly I was drowning in images, in sensations, not
from Alexander's consciousness, but forced upon me from outside. Alexander
performing rituals from the ancient text, his face alight with ambition,
Alexander writing in his journal, plotting to harness the entity's
power for himself, Alexander willingly offering blood, sacrifices, small animals
at first, then larger ones, his expression cold and calculating. No,
I gasped, knowing these images were distorted, manipulated. This isn't him,
This isn't the truth. All truth is subjective, The entity whispered.
All memory is malleable. What do you really know of
this man, this ghost you claim to love. The sphere
of light between us flickered dimmi as our resonance faltered
under the assault of doubt. Elise Alexander's voice desperate, Now
remember what you felt, what you know? Our connection transcends
the entity's influence. I fought to refocus, to find that
perfect alignment again. The key around my neck burned against
my skin, a physical anchor to reality, as my consciousness
wavered between dimensions. And then I heard Margaret's voice, distant
but clear. The amulet, Elise, use the amulet my grandmother created,
the amulet I had almost forgotten. When we prepared for
the ritual, Margaret had given me a small object to
hold in my left hand, a crystalline structure embedded in metal,
warm to the touch. She had called it her grandmother's
greatest creation, a tool specifically designed to cut through the
entities mind manipulations. I concentrated on the amulet, feeling its
weight in my non physical grasp. As my attention focused
on it, it began to glow with an inner light
that cut through the darkness pressing around us. The false
images receded, the entity's whispers grew fainter. I could feel
Alexander's true presence again, his consciousness reaching for mine. Now,
he urged, while entity is weakened, complete the harmonization. I
redirected all my focus to our connection, to the seed
of resonance between us. The sphere of light stabilized, then
began to grow again, expanding and crystallizing into something more substantial.
It was taking a definite shape, now a geometric form
with facets that reflected and amplified our joined consciousness. Yes, Alexander, encouraged,
it's working, the third anchor forming from our resonance. The
entity screamed in frustration, a sound that reverberated through the void.
The newer voice, the human ally cursed in very modern terms,
she's stronger than we anticipated. The human voice said the amulet.
We didn't know about the amulet silence. The entity hissed
We cannot stop this phase, but the full triangulation that
we can prevent. Their voices faded as the crystalline structure
between Alexander and me reached completion, a multi dimensional object
that somehow existed in both the void and physical reality simultaneously.
It's done, Alexander said with wonder. The third anchor created
from our perfect resonance. I could feel it, a solid
connection point that wouldn't fade when our direct contact ended,
a permanent bridge between our consciousnesses. Now you must return,
Alexander said urgently. Entity marshals its strength for stronger attack.
Take the anchor back with you, protect it until we
attempt full triangulation. When I asked, reluctant to break our connection,
now that it was stronger than ever before, when you've recovered,
when you're stronger, the solstice night lasts until dawn, we
have time. I'll come back for you, I promised. Now
that we have all three anchors, we can complete the triangulation.
Bring you home home, He repeated, the word, filled with
longing Yes, but carefully, Elise. Entity knows now what we attempt,
will fight with everything it possesses. I could feel physical
reality pulling at me the liminal state becoming harder to maintain.
I love you, I said, as our connection began to thin,
across time, across worlds, and I you came his response,
fading but clear always. The void receded. Physical sensation returned
in a rush that left me gasping the hard floor
beneath me, the cool air of the hidden room, the
sound of Margaret's concerned voice calling my name. I opened
my eyes to find myself still in the center of
the triangular arrangement. Margaret knelt beside me, her face tight
with worry, and there, hovering in the air at the
precise center of the triangle was the crystalline structure. Alexander
and I had created a physical manifestation of our resonance
across dimensions. It was smaller than it had seemed in
the void, about the size of a tennant, and composed
of what looked like crystal, but wasn't any material I recognized.
It rotated slowly, catching the candlelight and refracting it in
impossible patterns within its depths. Colours shifted and flowed, responding
to my gaze as if alive. You did it, Margaret breathed,
staring at the crystalline object, the third anchor. I reached
for it with trembling hands. The moment my fingers touched
its surface, warmth flooded through me, and I felt Alexander's presence,
distant but unmistakable. Yes, I said, cradling the crystal carefully.
Now we can attempt the full triangulation. Not immediately, Margaret cautioned,
helping me to my feet, That journey through the void
has drained you. You need to recover your strength before
attempting the complete bridge. She was right now that the
initial exhilaration was fading. I felt the exhaustion, not just physical,
but mental, emotional, spiritual. Existing in that liminal state maintaining
perfect resonance with Alexander while fighting the entity's interference had
depleted me in ways I hadn't anticipated how long, I asked,
unwilling to delay now that we were so close. Margaret
checked her watch. It's just after one in the morning.
The solstice night continues until dawn, about six hours from now.
Rest for at least four Then we'll prepare for the triangulation.
I nodded, reluctantly, still cradling the crystal anchor. The entity
will try to stop us it and its human ally. Yes,
Margaret agreed, guiding me from the hidden room toward the
master bedroom. But now we know about this ally, and
we have all three anchors, the advantage has shifted to us.
In the bedroom, I lay down, still fully clothed, the
crystal anchor held against my chest beside the key. Both
vibrated with subtle energy, recognizing each other, the two physical
connections to Alexander, to the void where he was trapped.
I'll wake you in four hours, Margaret promised, drawing a
blanket over me. Rest. Now, recover your strength. The final
phase will demand everything you have. As she left, dimming
the lights behind her, I closed my eyes. Despite my exhaustion,
I could still feel Alexander's presence through the crystal anchor,
a warm, steady connection that transcended physical separation. I'm coming
for you, I whispered into the darkness. Wait for me,
and somewhere beyond the void, I felt his response, not
in words, but in a pulse of recognition, of promise,
of love that had defied death, time and the barriers
between worlds. The battle wasn't over. The entity would fight
us with everything it possessed, but for the first time
since Alexander's sacrifice. I knew with certainty that we would win,
that the impossible was within our reach, that love in
the end was stronger than any ancient darkness.
Speaker 2: Romance Weekly is a production of Calarogu Shark Media executive
producers Mark Francis and John McDermott. Portions of this podcast
may have been created with the assistance of Ai
Speaker 1: Calaruga Shark Media.